


The Rory Story

by EH27



Category: Rookie Blue
Genre: Babyfic, F/F, Rookie Blue - Freeform, Toddlerfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-15 18:55:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2239767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EH27/pseuds/EH27
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holly has a son before she meets Gail, this is a small look into their world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is not a full fic, just general outline kind of headcanon thing, I am working on extending it though. I am new to fic writing/ storytelling so if you have any feedback that would be greatly appreciated. You can comment her or talk to me at jenniferjareaus.tumblr.com

Some time around Holly’s 30th birthday she realises that despite having a job she loves and a great family and wonderful friends there is something missing from her life.

She can’t figure out what she could be missing but she is sure that as perfect as her life looks from the outside there is something else she wants.

She tries getting a puppy but quickly discovers she is horribly allergic and has to bring him back to the shelter. She tries taking up sports, going to cookery classes, all kinds of things until one day it dawns on her. She wants a family of her own, and she doesn’t have to wait around for the love of her life to come along to start a family.

She goes through all the long processes of artificial insemination and after a few tries she finds herself pregnant with a tiny human and she is absolutely ecstatic.

On a freezing winter morning with her parents by her side Holly gives birth to a tiny baby boy with an unexpected shock of dark red hair (Holly supposes that maybe it isn’t all that surprising because she knows so little about her sperm donor).

Holly has always had a weird love for Irish folklore so she names him Rory and it fits him perfectly, with his bright green eyes and red hair no one could be blamed for thinking he had Irish blood.

//

When Holly meets Gail for the first time at a crime scene they are instantly drawn to each other and quickly start dating (Holly is not the first woman Gail has been with).

Gail becomes slightly concerned because Holly always ends their dates quite early and is never free on weekends, but she assumes Holly just wants to take it slow because they’ve only known each other a few weeks.

Holly is usually completely open with people about Rory because she adores him and cannot help but want to talk about him all the time, but when she meets Gail she panics because she hasn’t had any kind of serious relationship since he was born.

She really wants it to work with Gail and doesn’t want to scare her off. She of course has nothing to worry about because Gail adores children and is quickly starting to adore Holly so any child related to her will most likely be Gail’s greatest weakness.

//

One day, about 3 weeks after they start dating, Holly is dropping a file over to 15 (the courier was sick) and she spots Gail sitting with a young girl and showing her games on an iPad. When the little girl is settled Gail spots Holly and wanders over to her and Holly panics

‘Hi Hols’

‘I have one of them’

‘One of what? Oh an IPad? Ok..’

‘No not an iPad’.

‘Oh?’

‘A child’

‘You have a kid?’

‘Yeah he’s three and I meant to tell you ages ago but I panicked cause you’re so great and I really like you and I haven’t really had any relationships since I had him and now you’re going to stop wanting to see me cause this is way too much baggage’

‘What’s his name?’

‘Rory’

‘I’d really like to meet him sometime’

‘You would? You’re not mad?’

‘I’m not even a little mad, Holly he’s your son, it’s your choice who you tell him about or who you expose him to’

‘Ok’

‘Ok’

‘Are you free on Saturday afternoon? We usually go to the park on Saturdays’

‘I’d love that’

That’s the moment realises that she should never underestimate Gail and how open hearted she is.

They go for dinner that evening and all Gail wants to hear about is the little man who lights up Holly’s whole face when she talks about him.

‘Is he the reason you always went home early? That you never, eh, wanted to stay over?’ Gail asks, a little embarrassed by her insecurities.

‘Well first off, I wanted to stay over, I just couldn’t, because yeah I had babysitters and I don’t like to make them stay too late. Sometimes my parents are able to stay over but they have their own lives so I don’t like to ask too often. I really like you Gail, I just wanted to take it slow because I have a little boy to protect, but I think he’s going to love you’.

‘You do?’

‘Yeah now that I think about it I’m a little worried it won’t be too long before the two of you are ganging up on me to bring you snacks and wait on you hand and foot!’.

//

A few weeks after Gail meets Rory and they are completely smitten with each other, Holly realises that she needs to explain to Rory that Gail is not just her friend and that she’s going to be spending a lot of time with them.

She has no idea how to explain dating to a 3 year old but she does her best. Holly’s best is not necessarily good enough in this particular situation.

The next time Gail goes over to their house Rory is playing in his room and Gail goes in to say hi while Holly finishes some work

‘Hey Buddy, how’re you?

‘I’m not your Buddy.’

‘Huh? You’re not? I thought we were friends, did I do something wrong?’

‘Nope’

‘Then how come we’re not buddies anymore?’

‘Cause now you’re my girlfriend’

‘I am?’

‘Yep, Mama says girlfriends are when you spend lots of time together and eat dinner together and watch movies and stuff. So you have to be my girlfriend cause we do all those things.’

‘Oh’

‘Wanna play zoo?’

After playing with her new boyfriend for a little while Gail goes to find Holly and explain

‘Babe, I think you need to work on your explanation skills’

‘Oh yeah? Why?’

‘Your beautiful child thinks I’m now his girlfriend not yours’

‘Wait what?’

‘He told me what you said makes people girlfriends and because he and I do all those things together then I must be his girlfriend. He’s going to be heartbroken when he finds out I’m seeing someone else’

‘Oh god, how did I do that?’

‘I have no idea but I think you should probably clarify for him before he goes around telling people he has a 30 year old girlfriend and I get arrested’.

The two can hardly contain their laughter at the misunderstanding. ‘I can’t believe you tried to set me up with your three year old son Hols!’

//

The first time Rory see’s Gail in her uniform is probably one of the most entertaining moment of either Gail or Holly’s lives so far. For some reason it hasn’t come up that Gail is a police officer and Rory completely flips out and thinks it’s the best thing ever. His voice becomes even more high pitched than usual and immediately starts demanding his own police officer uniform for Halloween.

Rory is not so enamoured with the idea of Gail being a cop after the first time she is seriously injured at work and ends up spending a few days in hospital after some lunatic stabs her. Holly frets over it, but eventually gives in to Rory’s questions about Gail’s absence from his life for more than 48 hours and gives him the child friendly version of what happened.

‘But Mama where is she?’

‘She can’t be here right now Ro I’m sorry, you’ll have to show her your new drawing the next time you see her’.

‘Now Mama’

‘Rory no I’m sorry, you can’t see her right now’

‘She doesn’t wanna see me anymore Mama?’

‘No Baby that’s not it at all, look, I need to explain something to you ok?’

Rory nods his understanding

‘You know how Gail works as a police officer? Well sometimes being a police officer means you have to do things that are dangerous, and yesterday Gail was working and she got a little bit hurt, so now she has to rest and get better’

‘Is she in the hospital Mama?’ Rory asks with wide eyes

‘Yeah Baby she is, but she is going to be just fine, I saw her this morning and the doctors said she will be able to go home in a few days’

‘OK so we can go to the hospital now?’

‘Rory I don’t think that’s a good idea, she needs to rest so she can feel better’

‘But Gail is by herself and she can’t get better by herself we have to help, we have to bring her yum food and cuddles, you said those are the sick rules Mama, you said’

Holly is conflicted but knows Gail is missing Rory as much as he is missing her so she reluctantly brings him to the hospital, with some cheese puffs and Rory’s favourite blanket and she knows instantly is was worth it because Gail’s face lights up more than she thought possible once she sees her little man.

‘Rory! Did your Mum smuggle you in here?’

‘Gail!’

‘Come here you big snuggle bug you owe me some cuddles!’.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I know this is short and I’m sorry! I will be pretty busy for the rest of the week so there more than likely won’t be any more until the weekend (maybe Friday). I hope you enjoy :)

On Rory’s first day of kindergarten the three of them head to the school together so Rory has some support for his big moment and so Gail can give Holly some reassurances that he will be fine on their way to work.

Shortly after they arrive at the school Holly looks on in wonderment as Rory gets a bit tearful and scared and Gail knows perfectly how to keep him calm and rid him of his fears.

‘I don’t wanna go on my own Mama’ Rory whispered, tearfully to Holly.

Gail crouches down in front of him ‘Little man, you’re not on your own, you’re never on your own, not when me or your Mum are always thinking about you. But I do know doing new things for the first time can be a quite scary so how about you keep my badge with you today to keep you safe?’

‘Really?’ the little boys asks wide eyed.

‘Yeah of course! I think you need it more than me hmmm?’

‘Thanks Gail’

He squeezes his little arms around Gail’s neck, slips her badge into his backpack and grabs Holly’s hand and drags her into the classroom with a brand new sense of confidence.

As they walk out the gates after Rory is settled Holly begins to wonder if Gail really should have done that, if she is even allowed to give away her badge.

‘Hey Babe, do you not need to have your badge at work? Aren’t there rules about that?’

‘Yeah so I didn’t give him my real badge, I went down to a pawn shop a few days ago and got an old one, so now he can have his own whenever he needs it. I read online that sometimes when kids are starting school it helps to give them something of yours to remind them that you’re coming back to get them later, in case they get scared and I thought he might like a badge of his own, you know?’ Gail says as she unlocks the car.

‘Where did we find you Gail? You always manage to think of everything he needs’ Holly muses.

‘Well he’s pretty awesome, so I like to help keep him smiling’ Gail replies as they drive.

After a few moments of silence Holly can’t help herself

‘Move in with us?’

‘Sorry?’ 

‘You should move in with us, I’ve been thinking about it for a while and I didn’t know how to ask because I know it’s a lot asking your girlfriend to move in with you and your child but I think we’re definitely at that place Gail and Rory adores you and you’re the most important thing in my life apart from Rory and you’re pretty much his favourite person ever so it could be all kinds of perfect. If you want to that is, if you need to think about it whatever or don’t want to that’d be fine too’ Holly trails off eventually as Gail pulls into the car park at the morgue.

‘Jeez Hols you really know how to ramble don’t you?’ Gail laughs, ‘If you’re seriously asking me to move in with you, of course there is only one answer I’m going to give you Nerd, I love you and I love Rory, you both are the most important things in my life too. I can’t think of anything better than waking up next to your nerdy face every morning’ Gail grins.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The First Meeting

The morning of her park date with Holly and Rory, Gail wakes up early and more nervous than she had anticipated. She tries to keep herself busy and distracted until the afternoon but spends most of the morning shuffling around the apartment and bugging Dov. She arrives at the park before Holly and Rory and is grateful for the chance to calm her nerves. ‘He’s three years old Gail, calm down. Just be kind and minimise the snark’ she tells herself.

 

Gail is sitting on a bench near the playground where she had agreed to meet Holly when she sees a streak of red running as fast as his little legs will carry him towards the slide with an amused Holly jogging behind. When Gail spots Holly she gets up to greet her.

‘Hi Hols’

‘Oh hi Gail, Rory is here but he got a bit ahead of himself’ Holly points towards the toddler working his way up the stairs to the slide with a look of pure joy on his face. ‘I told him there was someone here I wanted him to meet, but he loves the playground so much I think he probably forgot’

Gail is secretly grateful for the chance to observe Rory from afar for a few minutes, she adores kids but this is the first time she has dated someone with a child of their own and she is terrified she’s going to do something stupid to mess it up. Of course Gail being Gail she is being too hard on herself and her fears are completely unfounded.

Gail and Holly are chatting on the bench when they notice Rory looking a little tired and making his way over to them.

‘Hi Baby’ Holly greets him ‘you doing ok?’

‘Can I have a drink Mama?’ He asks. Gail’s heart melts at Rory calling Holly Mama and she knows almost immediately after she hears his sweet little voice that he is going to have her wrapped around his little finger in no time.

‘Of course Rory, come here there’s someone I want you to meet’ she gets Rory situated on her lap with some water and gestures towards Gail. ‘This is Gail; remember I told you we were meeting someone at the park?’ Rory nods and smiles shyly at Gail.

‘Hi Rory, it’s lovely to meet you’ Gail is gentle as she greets him; automatically slipping into her special mode she has just for kids. ‘You looked like you were having a great time on that slide over there, was it fun?’

‘Yep, ‘cept then I got thirsty so I came over here’ He replies.

‘Maybe when you’re ready to go back I could come with you? We could test out those swings? They look like they could be pretty great’ Gail suggests.

After that the rest is history, Holly watches her little man lead Gail over to the swings by the hand while Gail shoots her a sneaky thumbs up and Holly realises once again her fears about introducing Gail to Rory were needless, Gail is wonderful with children and Rory is no exception. For Gail watching Holly as a mother ignites something in her and makes her fall even harder for this stunning woman.

//

Later that evening after a wonderful dinner together where Rory entertained them with stories of his day at the park as if they hadn’t been there with him, Gail and Holly are snuggling on Holly’s couch. With Rory in bed the two ladies are free to be more open with their affection and both are happy to indulge in it. Holly is lying with her head resting on Gail’s chest and the two are lost in thought, just happy to be close to each other.

The longer the silence goes on the more Holly’s thoughts start to deepen to more serious issues and conversations she and Gail need to have, she doesn’t want to break the moment but knows she has to be the one to do it. She sits up and Gail follows suit.

‘So I kind of want to talk to you about something’ Holly starts ‘You were so wonderful with Rory today, and it’s obvious that he cares about you already, he wouldn’t stop yammering on about you when I was trying to brush his teeth, it was adorable, and kind of frustrating too!’.

Gail smiles at the thought ‘Holly it’s ok, just tell me what’s on your mind and then we’ll talk about it, no big deal’

‘Ok, ok so I signed up to do this alone, I knew having Rory would affect any future relationships I had, and I might never get to meet the right person to settle down with, but I did it anyway and I have never regretted it for a second. But I need to know where you’re at before we go any further into this. I don’t expect you to be his mother, that’s what I’m here for, but I need to know you won’t run without a word and break his heart, so I have to ask, are you in this? With both of us?’

‘You know…I’ve been through a lot of shit Holly, with guys and with girls, with coming out to my parents, they weren’t so wild about the bisexual thing and I had one break up that just threw me for a loop and it really forced me to grow up and think about a lot of stuff.

After I got back to myself I promised myself I would never forget that I am worth more than the way I have been treated in the past. I told myself that if I met someone who didn’t want all of me, then I would not give them any of myself. Since I made that promise, my relationships have been a bit all over the place, but I have come out of them proud of the person I am, and not having lost that person. I also promised myself that if I met someone who made my whole soul ache, for everything, then I would put my heart into it and suffer the consequences, whatever the world decided they would be.

The day we met when you were standing in front of me holding that dorky lunchbox with that amazing smile on your face I knew I was a goner. Holly I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I have never been this honest with anyone before, except for maybe myself, and my heart has been aching for something like this my whole life and that little boy is the most positive consequence of putting my heart out there that I could ever have imagined. I am here Holly, and I am in this. With both of you’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hope you liked it. Let me know if you have any prompts for this little family.  
> A/N 2: i edited this while mildly high on about 14 different cold medicines so please excuse any mistakes


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was prompted on tumblr to write a 'Bring Your Child To Work Day' fic, this is the end result!

Bring Your Child To Work Day.

A/N: This is set about3-4 months after The First Meeting.

 

Gail has just finished setting the table when Holly announces that dinner is ready and they settle down to eat once Rory is lured away from his toys.   
‘So are you excited to bring Rory to work with you next week?’ Gail asks Holly.  
‘Yeah I actually can’t wait, we’ll have to stay in the lab of course I can’t bring him to any crime scenes but I can show him all the tests we do and I think he’ll really enjoy it’ Holly explains.  
‘Where are we going Mama?’ Rory enquires  
‘Well Ro, next Friday there is a thing called ‘Bring Your Child To Work Day’ so instead of going to preschool you’re going to come to work with me and see all the cool stuff I get to do, doesn’t that sound fun?’ Holly asks.  
‘Um...can I go with Gail? And be a police officer instead?’ The little boy asks innocently, Gail has to clasp a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing at the look of absolute betrayal on Holly’s face, which earns her a glare once Holly has recovered. Honestly, neither woman had considered the fact that Rory might go with Gail, although Holly will admit later she should have seen it coming, given Rory’s minor obsession with the police force since meeting Gail.  
‘I don’t know Rory I’ll have to talk to Gail about it later on ok?’  
‘I guess’ He mumbles, while shooting a ‘Please Gail’ pout in Gail’s direction.

//

‘Gail, you don’t have to bring him if you don’t want to, I know you like to keep your private life separate from your work life, your colleagues barely know about me let alone about Rory’ Holly begins once Rory is settled in bed later that evening.  
‘Hol really, I think they know a lot more about you than I’ve told them, Steve is the worst gossip in the precinct and I think I’ve probably been a lot nicer to them than they deserve since meeting you. They just don’t know about Rory because I was trying to protect him, but it’s fine, they were going to find out eventually. Plus I did tell Oliver, so he can help me out. How could I deny that face any way, you can tell how badly he wants to come. As long as you’re ok with it, then I’m fine with it. I know it cut deep hearing he didn’t want to nerd out with you all day’  
‘Hey, hey, he loves to nerding out with me! He just gets distracted with all the shiny new toys you show him! He loves science! He’s just also a normal three year old so he loves the idea of driving around in a police car all day too’.  
‘I’ll try help you out a little and show him the stuff we send over to you guys so he doesn’t forget you exist during his excitement!’ Gail replies, earning her a smack on the arm from Holly.

//

Gail collects Rory from Holly’s house early on Friday morning and he is just about able to contain his excitement but Gail can tell from his wide eyes and non-stop babbling that he is beyond excited.  
‘Ready to go little man?’   
‘YEP!’ He almost shouts in Gail’s face, his voice more high pitched than she has ever heard it.  
‘Ok Rory come here for a second’ Holly calls him over to her ‘Try to relax ok? I know you’re excited and that’s ok, you’re going to have a great day with Gail, but you need to be on your best behaviour and listen to everything she says to you ok? No funny business!’  
‘Ok Mama’ Rory replies looking a little calmer  
‘Have a great day, I love you and I’ll see you later ok?’ Holly gives him a squeeze as he starts heading towards the front door.  
‘BYE MAMA, love you!’ He shouts over his shoulder.  
‘We’ll be good I promise’ Gail says playfully to Holly, ‘and I’ll take loads of pictures don’t worry’  
‘Bye, have fun’ Holly gives Gail a quick kiss as she turns to leave.  
‘You’re still bitter he picked me aren’t you?’   
‘No’ Holly scoffs ‘ok maybe a little…’  
‘Bye Holly, I’ll call you later’ Gail laughs as she scoops Rory up to head out to the car.  
‘Right little man, let’s go!’ Gail says to him as Holly watches them from the front door.

//

When they arrive at the precinct they are quite early and there aren’t very many people around, and no one has arrived with their children yet, so Gail guides Rory into the women’s locker room so she can put on her uniform.  
‘Ok Rory can you wait here for two minutes while I go get changed really quickly? No wandering around ok?’  
‘OK’  
Gail heads into the toilets to change as quickly as she can, but while she’s in the bathroom Chloe wanders into the locker room and is shocked to see the little boy in there by himself.   
‘Hey kid, are you ok? Did you get lost?’  
‘Nope’  
‘You’re not really supposed to be in here by yourself maybe we could go outside and find your Mum or Dad?’  
‘I didn’t come with my Mama, I came here with my Gail’ Rory replies ‘and she said I have to sit here until she comes back’  
Chloe’s eyes go wide at his statement about ‘His Gail’ but she tries not to let him see her surprise ‘You’re here with Gail?’  
‘Yep, and she’s gonna show me all the things bout being a police officer’  
‘Ok little man I’m ba...Oh hi Chloe, sorry I didn’t think anyone had come in, I was just gone for a minute’  
‘Not a problem Gail, I was just making sure this little guy was ok, I’ll see you outside’ Chloe says as she leaves.  
‘Ok Rory ready to go? Oh wait actually I have a surprise for you, I almost forgot!’ Gail opens up her locker and rummages around until she produces a tiny navy t-shirt with Toronto Police Force across the back and the crest on the front.  
Rory nearly falls off the bench in excitement recognising the police logo ‘is that for me?’ he squeaks.  
‘Well it’s not going to fit me Rory! You want to put it on?’ It’s a pointless question really considering he has already dumped his coat and sweater on the ground and is attempting to pull his t-shirt over his head. ‘Ok whoa, slow down, let me help you out there!’ Gail laughs as she lifts him up to stand on the bench and pulls his t-shirt over his head and puts the new one on.  
‘Wow, Rory, you look like a real police officer now’ Gail grins at him.  
‘Freeze’ Rory yells while pointing his fingers in a gun shape at Gail. Gail can’t help but laugh even harder, she’s not sure she’s ever seen anything so adorable.  
‘Ok, let’s get out of here and go meet some people ok?’  
‘Yes!’ Rory agrees as he jumps off the bench while Gail shoves all their things into her locker.

//

The duo walks out of the locker room and into the parade room where Gail explains to Rory how her day normally starts. She tries not to be too distracted but she can see all of her friends standing around trying to look like they are working when really they are all staring at her and Rory. ‘Stupid Chloe and her big mouth’ Gail thinks, although of course it was inevitable they would spot them eventually. She realises she probably should have come up with some kind of a plan to introduce them all. While Rory is distracted looking around Steve comes over to Gail with a confused look on his face.  
‘Gail, where did you get that child? You know you’re not supposed to just procure children to bring today, you’re supposed to bring your own children, which last I checked you didn’t have any? Actually he does look kind of like me, did you find a long lost child that belongs to me?’  
‘Relax you moron, I did not procure him! He’s Holly’s son.’  
‘HOLLY HAS A SON?’ Steve whispers dramatically.  
‘Would you calm down please, yes Holly has a son, his name is Rory. She had him by herself a few years ago. Wait, wait, wait, you’ve never donated stuff have you?’  
‘Stuff?’  
‘Yeah, you know, stuff?’  
‘Stuff like sperm?’  
‘Yeah’ Gail is starting to get a little panicky. A look of absolute horror passes over Steve’s face and Gail feels like she might pass out. ‘Steve? HAVE YOU?’  
‘Haha no thank god, I was just messing with you Gail! That boy ain’t mine’ Steve cracks up, ‘You should see your face right now’  
‘Oh my god Steve, are you trying to kill me?’ Gail takes some deep breaths and punches Steve in the arm.  
‘So I can meet the little guy?’  
‘Only if you promise never to scare me like that again?’ Steve nods his agreement.  
‘Rory? Will you come over here?’ Gail asks and the little boy comes running. Gail bends down beside him ‘This is my brother and he’s very excited to meet you’  
‘Hi Rory, I’m Steve, how’re you doing?’  
‘Hi’ Rory replies, shyly curling in towards Gail ‘I’m good’  
‘So Rory, how about you, me and Steve go over to the finger printing station and get our finger prints taken?’ Gail asks him.  
‘Yes please!’ Rory grabs Gail’s hand and drags her out the door, causing Steve and Gail to laugh.

//

A few hours later when Rory is passed out for a nap in Gail’s desk chair Gail makes her way over to Dov and Chris who are still looking at her warily.  
‘So…’ Dov starts.  
‘Yes Dov?’ Gail asks.  
‘Holly has a son? A son who likes you enough to spend a whole day with you by himself?’  
‘Yes Dov, Holly has a son and he likes me because I like him and he isn’t super annoying like all of you people so we actually enjoy spending time together. Is that quite alright with you?’  
‘Yeah Gail, totally fine, it was just a bit unexpected that’s all’ Chris responds. ‘You’re really great with him, he’s lucky to have you’  
Gail blushes a bit unsure of how to respond to something that actually means an awful lot to her ‘Thanks Chris, I suppose you can meet him if you wish once he wakes up’  
‘What about me?’ Dov asks.  
‘No, not you Epstein, I don’t want you messing up the kid’.

//

A few hours later after Rory has woken up and the two have tried out all the games set up in the station Gail decides to head over to the morgue so Holly doesn’t miss out on the day completely. She manages to convince Rory that it will be fun over at the morgue and promises they have science games for him to try out.  
‘Want to surprise your Mama Ro?’  
‘OK!’  
‘Ok try and be quiet though’ Gail says. ‘This is her office just down here’  
Gail pokes her head into the lab to make sure there is nothing on display that will terrify Rory but thankfully Holly is just sitting at her desk writing a report. She slips back out ‘OK little man lets go’  
She holds the door open for Rory and he bounds in heading straight for Holly ‘MAMA WE CAME!’  
Holly jumps and looks very confused as Rory launches himself into her lap, but she recovers quickly ‘Rory Stewart you nearly gave me a heart attack!’ She exclaims ‘How was your day with Gail?’  
Rory quickly starts babbling on about all the things they did while Gail shows Holly some of the photos she took of him in action, ending with a picture of Steve holding Rory surrounded by Traci, Dov, Andy, Chloe and Chris.   
‘Wow Sweetheart it looks like you had the best time! And is this a new t-shirt you’re wearing?’ Holly asks.  
‘They sell them in the gift shop and I wanted him to fit in with the other police officers’ Gail answers with a small blush.  
‘Well I think you look great Rory, you look like a real police officer! You just need a badge now’.   
‘Mama? Can you show me science stuff too?’  
Holly’s face lights up ‘Of course, there’s loads for us to do with in the other labs’.  
When Rory is distracted by one of the interns showing an experiment Holly asks Gail ‘So it really went well? He wasn’t too much of a handful?’  
‘Holly of course not, he was great, he was charming everyone once he got over his shyness. It was really adorable. I loved every minute of it, but I’m glad we got to come here and see you too’  
‘Yeah?’  
‘Yeah. The only thing that would have made today better would have been if you were there too’ Gail grins at Holly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gail reprimands Rory for the first time. Requested by Anonymous on Tumblr

Gail is about to leave work when her phone starts ringing in her pocket. She smiles when she notices who’s calling ‘Hey Hol, I’m just getting ready to leave work, how was your day? Are we still on for dinner tomorrow?’ ‘I’m sick’ Gail can practically hear the pout in Holly’s voice ‘Oh, what’s wrong? ‘I think I have the flu, I hate to ask because I know you were supposed to get drinks with the guys tonight but would you be able to come over and mind Rory?’ ‘Honey of course, I’ll be there in 30 minutes’.

 

//

 

Holly answers the door to Gail looking more miserable than she has ever seen her ‘Babe, get into bed, I’ll take care of Rory and you just get better ok?’ Gail gives her a peck on the cheek and ushers her into the master bedroom. ‘Has Rory eaten? Have you?’ ‘No, he’s just been playing since we got home, I didn’t have a chance to make anything’ ‘OK, don’t worry about it, just try to relax, I won’t poison him’. Holly wanders over to the bed, Gail tucks her in with an adoring kiss to the forehead ‘Don’t you dare get out of bed’ ‘mmmmk’ Holly responds already half asleep.

Gail leaves Holly after a moment and goes down the hallway to find Rory in his room with what Gail can only assume is every single one of his toys thrown on the floor, ‘Well that explains what kept you so quiet little man, hi Rory’ ‘Hi Gail’ he responds, his face the picture of petulance. ‘Why’d you make such a big mess?’ ‘Dunno’ ‘well how about you get this cleaned up and then we make some dinner together?’ ‘NO I don’t wanna’ Rory glares at Gail. Gail begins to wonder what could possibly be going on to make the normally beyond sweet little boy act up so much. ‘Rory, you doing ok?’ he ignores her and continues sitting among the mess he has made but not playing with anything. Gail attempts to draw on what kind of punishment she has seen Holly put in place on the rare occasions Rory has acted out before. ‘OK Rory, I’m giving you a warning now, and if you don’t start cleaning up then I’m going to have to put you in a time out’. Rory continues to completely ignore her. She waits a full minute to see if she can break him, she’s a police officer for God’s sake! But he is a stubborn as they come and refuses to move. ‘OK that’s it Kid, you’re going in time out’ Gail goes to pick him up and then he breaks, completely freaking out and shouting ‘NONONO, leave me alone! You can’t give me time out! STOP’ Rory is screaming and crying and Gail is completely out of her element and very worried, she doesn’t have a huge amount of experience around children this small, and she has never seen Rory like this. She is silently hoping Holly has taken medicine to help her sleep, if not she is definitely not getting the rest she needs with Rory screaming like he’s being murdered. Gail puts Rory down on his bed and lets him shout and wriggle around to get out some of his energy before pulling him up beside her ‘Rory, you need to calm down. This is completely unacceptable behaviour’. Rory takes a few deep breaths and stops shouting, and it is then that Gail notices the flush in his cheeks and the heat radiating off his little body ‘Rory, are you feeling ok? I think you might have a temperature’.

His short tantrum has completely taken it out of him so Gail scoops him up and brings him into the bathroom, sure that Holly will have a thermometer and probably any other medical junk any parent could ever need. Sure enough she quickly finds the thermometer and pops it into Rory’s mouth, with the minimal response she gets from the boy Gail figures he must be feeling quite awful, and sure enough the thermometer reads 100o F when she takes it from him. ‘OK Bud, I think we have an answer for why you were acting so weird, you must be feeling rotten. You must have caught whatever your Mum has’ Gail chats to the little boy as she runs him a bath and gets him tucked up in bed, Rory is uncharacteristically quiet the entire time. Once he is settled in bed after taking some cold medicine Gail goes about cleaning up the remnants of Rory’s tantrum. 

Once Gail has tidied Rory’s room and made a quick dinner for herself, with leftovers in the fridge in case either of her patients wake up hungry, she pokes her head in to check on Holly who is snoring softly and adorably. Gail grabs some pillows and blankets and heads back to Rory’s room, sure his fever will probably wake him throughout the night. She gets settled on the floor next to his toddler bed and quickly passes out, hoping she managed to avoid catching the bug herself. Rory does wake during the night but spots Gail on the floor and simply slides out of bed and cuddles up next to her before falling back asleep.

 

//

 

This is how Holly finds them the next morning, feeling like a new woman after an undisturbed night’s sleep. She looks down at the two adorable faces sleeping soundly and feels her heart swell for this incredible woman who came into her life out of nowhere and managed to make it better than she ever could have imagined. Gail starts to wake up and spots Holly standing by the door ‘hey, how are you feeling? You look much better’ Gail says, her voice still a bit rough with sleep ‘I love you’ Holly whispers. Gail is taken aback ‘Wh-what?’ she stutters out. ‘I love you’ Holly repeats, a smile blossoming on her face. Gail never expected the first time they said I love you would be while Rory was attached to Gail like a limpet in his sleep and that he and Holly would have the flu, but it kind of fits with their little life, it’s messy, but it’s theirs and it’s beautiful. ‘I love you too Holly’.


	6. Chapter 6

It’s been about a month since Gail moved in with Holly and Rory and everything has been going wonderfully. The amount of extra time they have together as a family is better than any of them could have imagined, and Rory adores having Gail in the house full time, even if they both still struggle a little with Gail’s role as parent rather than friend. Slowly but surely they are working through the issues and none of them would deny being happier than ever before.

One evening when Holly is working late Gail and Rory are home alone, Gail is making dinner while Rory is watching some cartoons. She notices the little boy get up and head into the bathroom, but only notices about 20 minutes later that he still hasn’t returned. Growing concerned Gail goes to check on him. ‘Rory? Are you alright?’ she knocks on the bathroom door ‘Yep’ ‘Can I come in?’ ‘Yep’

Gail opens the door to the bathroom and feels the blood drain from her face at the sight in front of her, Rory is standing on his stool that helps him reach the sink, in front of the mirror with a giant pair of scissors in his hands. His gorgeous hair is all over the floor and sink and the hair that’s left on his head is horribly uneven, to put it lightly. ‘Rory! What have you done?’ Gail exclaims, moving forward to take the scissors out of his hands, beyond relieved he didn’t cut himself before she came in. ‘I cut my hair like yours Gail!’ He beams up at her. He’s so proud of himself it’s hard for Gail to keep a straight face. ‘Rory, you aren’t supposed to cut your hair by yourself! There are people called hair dressers who would do a much better job sweetheart! And you’re only 4 you could have really hurt yourself with those scissors!’ ‘Um excuse me, I’m four AND A HALF and everyone knows scissors are for cutting things not people Gail’ Rory says, sounding quite exasperated with her. ‘Wow, ok’ Gail says, finding it hard to believe Rory really is so young, the things he comes out with sometimes ‘well let’s try and get your hair fixed a little before your Mum gets home’ Gail goes about trimming the longer pieces of hair trying to get them as even as possible, she doesn’t get far before Rory becomes bored and starts reaching for different things around the sink, making her job quite difficult. ‘Hey, what’s this?’ he asks ‘That’s hair gel, it’s for styling your hair in different ways, and actually I might use some of it on you to distract your Mum’. ‘Will you use some too?’ ‘Ok if you want me to’. Gail starts rubbing the gel into Rory’s hair, which he finds very amusing while looking at himself in the mirror, he pushes Gail’s hands out of the way and starts styling it himself ‘hey look at me I’m a rock star!’ Rory exclaims while sticking out his tongue, his hair styled into a Mohawk ‘Your turn Gail!’. Gail is dubious but decides to indulge the little boy, she can discipline him later once she’s spoken to Holly she supposes ‘Alright, but not too much!’

//

Holly walks in the door and kicks her shoes off, extremely grateful to be home after an incredibly long day. She notices a half prepared dinner sitting on the counter. The TV is paused with one of Rory’s cartoons on it and neither of her loves are anywhere to be seen. Holly is slightly concerned and when she stops moving around she hears a loud thumping coming from upstairs, a loud thumping in the rhythm of a song she knows very well. She heads up to her and Gail’s bedroom and the source of the noise. She walks in to see Rory kneeling on their bed doing a very impressive air guitar while Gail belts out the Somebody to Love by Queen into a hairbrush microphone both of their hair styled in to ridiculous Mohawks. All Holly can do is laugh. She has no idea how she managed to fall in love with someone as insane as her son, but she is very grateful she found Gail. Once the song comes to an end Holly begins to applaud and both Gail and Rory’s heads snap up looking rather guilty. ‘Ummm…I can explain?’ Gail says rather weakly.

//

A few hours later after explaining the entire hair situation and finally getting around to finishing dinner while Holly does a little more damage control on Rory’s hair, Gail and Holly finally settle into bed. ‘We really need to get some locks for the bathroom cabinets’ Holly murmurs ‘Yeah that’s probably not a bad idea, I’m really sorry I let this happen Hol, I should have done a better job of watching him’ ‘Gail it could have happened to either of us! I know you worry about being a parent to Rory, but sometimes you have to look at it as a win that he didn’t get hurt and turn it into a fun situation. Tomorrow we can make sure he never does something like that again’ ‘Ok’ Gail replies sheepishly. Holly starts laughing quietly ‘I can’t believe he just cut it all off! He’s lucky he’s so easy to love’ ‘mmmm he’s lucky he’s so adorable’ Gail responds. ‘You are too you know’ ‘what? Adorable? Of course I know that’ Gail scoffs. ‘No, well yes, but you’re also very easy to love, sometimes I feel like maybe you haven’t heard that enough in your life’. ‘I love you too Hol’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Thank you so so much for all your kind reviews of this fic, they mean the world to me :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Rory brings Gail + Holly to school for show and tell and gets into a fight over another kid talking about Gail + Holly (I deviated from the prompt a little, I hope the person who prompted this still enjoys it!)

‘Mama Mama Mama!’ Rory exclaims as he spots Holly waiting for him outside school one day. ‘Hi Baby, sounds like you’re in great form, did you have fun at school?’ ‘Mama, next week we have to bring our parents to school to talk about their jobs!’ ‘Oh and let me guess, you want to bring Gail?’ Holly asks, still a little bitter about the whole Bring Your Child to Work day debacle almost 3 years earlier. ‘What? No, I want you to come…and Gail as well! Can you both come together?’ ‘Oh, Ok Ro I think we can manage that, when is it exactly?’ Next Wednesday at 12 o’clock’ ‘Ok little man, you’ll have to ask Gail as well but I’m sure it won’t be a problem’.  
//  
‘Ok Rory, it’s your turn now, will you please introduce us to your parents?’ Mr Collins, Rory’s teacher asks. Rory makes his way to the front of the class from his seat while Gail and Holly wait by the door for their introduction. ‘Hi everyone, I brought both my parents cause they work together sometimes and their jobs are kinda connected. My Mums work to help solve crimes, My Mama is a fooorensic patholygist and my Gail is a police officer’ Gail holds in a giggle at Rory’s complete mispronunciation of Holly’s job, she knows he’ll get it right one day. ‘So they are gonna tell you about their jobs and it’s gonna be great!’ Rory ends enthusiastically as the class and their parents all clap. Holly and Gail quickly launch into their short explanation of their jobs in the most first grade age appropriate way they can. Of course all the kids love Gail and want to see her gun, which she didn’t actually bring with her, but she shows them her badge and when Rory announces that he has one of his own all the kids are suitably impressed. There are a few who ask Holly some funny questions as well, but most are a bit freaked out by the idea of working with dead bodies.   
//  
After Gail and Holly finish speaking and the children are finished asking questions it’s time for lunch and all the kids go running out to the playground. All of the parents hang around for a little while chatting to each other and watching the kids play. Gail and Holly are keeping a close eye on Rory who is playing on the jungle gym; suddenly he gets down from climbing and launches himself at another little boy. The two of them go running as fast as they can a long with a man who they can only assume is the father of the boy Rory is fighting. Gail gets Rory off the little boy as the man picks up his son. ‘RORY CORNELIUS STEWART WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU JUST DOING??’ Holly yells, absolutely appalled by her son’s behaviour, knowing she instilled the importance of non-violence with him before he started school. Rory’s lip starts to quiver as he holds back tears ‘C-c-Calum said that Gail’s not my real Mum and it’s not allowed cause everyone only has one Mum and he kept saying it over and over and it made me mad and I got angry’ Rory chokes out. ‘Cal is that true? Did you say those things to Rory?’ The man asks his son. Calum looks suitably ashamed, and it also thankfully not badly hurt, just a little shocked ‘Yeah, but I have a Mum and a Dad and the other kids have a Mum and a Dad too’ ‘Calum, we’ve talked about this before, there are all sorts of different families and none of them are better than others, they’re just different, and that’s a good thing because the world would be awfully boring if everyone was the same wouldn’t it?’ Calum nods his understanding, ‘I’m sorry Rory’. ‘Rory, what Calum said wasn’t ok, but neither was your reaction, it was completely unacceptable and you need to apologise as well’ Gail tells him ‘I’m sorry Calum, I should have just talked to you not hit you’ ‘Good man, now boys I really don’t want to see or hear anything like that from either of you again ok? Just try to get along or play with other kids ok?’ Gail asks the two boys ‘OK’ they reply in unison as they both run off towards the jungle-gym.  
‘Hey, I’m really sorry about that, I thought he understood us before when we talked to him about stuff like this but I guess it went over his head, I’ll make sure it never happens again’ Calum’s Dad says ‘Don’t worry about it, we’ll talk to Rory about it too, and of course make sure he understands that what he did today is not to happen again’ ‘I’d better get back to work, it was lovely to meet you both’ he nods his goodbye and Holly and Gail are left alone watching the kids play. ‘Well that was unexpected’ Gail begins ‘Yeah I’ve never seen him act like that before, ever!’ Holly responds. ‘Yeah, and not that I really doubted it before, but it was nice to hear that he thinks of me as his Mum, it was a lot better than nice actually, it was really awesome’ ‘You know Rory adores you Gail’ ‘Yeah I do, but he’s never really called me his Mum before and he did it twice today and it kind of melted my heart’ Gail says with a soppy smile at Holly ‘Let’s leave the little man alone and make the most of our half day from work shall we?’ Gail asks with a wink. ‘Also, Cornelius, really?’ ‘It’s a nice name! I wanted something different!’ Holly replies a little outraged at Gail’s judgement. ‘Ok well you certainly achieved different, just don’t go getting any ideas that our future kidlings will have names like that’ Gail responds with a cheeky grin.  
A/N: Thanks for all the amazing feedback for this story, this fandom is the best thing ever :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Rory gets hurt

'Gail, GAIL' Gail holds her phone a little further away from her ear so she doesn't lose her hearing with Holly yelling down the phone.  
'Holly, relax, I can hear you, is everything ok? Why are you yelling?'  
'It's Rory, he got hurt at school and they're taking him to hospital, can you meet me there?' Holly manages to get out between deep breaths in an attempt to calm down slightly.  
'Holly what happened? Is he ok?'   
'He fell off the climbing frame, and they said he fell pretty far and maybe has a broken arm, but I'm not sure'  
'Ok Hols, which hospital?'   
‘Toronto General, where are you? Will it take you long to get there?' Holly is doing her best to stay calm but Gail can hear she is holding back tears.  
'Yeah, I'm only a few minutes away, are you at work?' Gail responds.  
'Yeah I'm just leaving the morgue, I'll be at least 20 minutes'  
'Ok i'll make sure our boy is ok, you just drive safe ok, I'll see you soon'.

 

//

 

When Gail arrives at the emergency room she runs straight to the front desk and asks to see Rory, as she doesn't recognise anyone around as being from his school. 'Ma'am who are you? I can't allow just anyone in to see a child, are you his guardian?' The receptionist asks. 'Well no, not legally, but I live with him, I'm engaged to his mother'  
'I'm sorry Ma'am but I can only let legal guardians in to be with him, you'll have to wait until his mother arrives' as the woman finishes speaking Gail hears a distinctive cry from the room behind her  
'Is he in there? Is that him crying?' She asks the woman rather loudly 'You have to let me in there, he's in pain and he's probably terrified, please, please let me in' Gail is not above begging where Rory is concerned, especially when he is pain.  
'Ma'am I'm sorry but I have to follow protocol, he has a teacher with him. Now the waiting area is just around the corner' the woman turns away from Gail and starts typing on her computer. 

Gail is getting more and more concerned, after hearing Rory cry out loudly she doesn't want to be away from him for a moment longer. While the woman's back is still turned Gail decides her best option is to just make a break for it, she can deal with the consequences later. She runs up to the door she is sure she heard Rory behind just a minute ago and eases it open quietly, 'Ma'am you cannot go in there! I expressly told you to go to the waiting area!' the receptionist finally turns around to see Gail peeking into the room to make sure it was the correct one.

Gail lets out a deep breath when she see's Rory lying on the bed, looking a bit sad but not too badly hurt. He looks up and spots her at the door 'GAIL' he calls out.  
'Hi Baby, how are you? Did you get hurt?'.  
The receptionist bustles in behind her 'Ma'am I have to ask you to leave or I'm going to call security'  
'NO, Gail please don't go' Rory calls out.  
'Excuse me are you this boy's mother?' The doctor in the room asks.  
'No, I'm not his legal guardian, but I'm engaged to his mother, who will be here any minute, but Rory is only 6 and I didn't want him to be alone until she got here, so please let me stay. You can clearly see he knows who I am and he wants me to stay' Gail pleads.  
The teacher who has been silently waiting with Rory speaks up 'excuse me doctor but Gail is very familiar to us at the school, she lives with Rory and she is his mother in every way except legally, there is no reason she should not be allowed to stay'.  
The doctor looks conspiratorially at Rory 'What do you think little man? Should I let her stay?' 'Yes please' Rory responds.  
'It's alright Agnes, she can stay, he shouldn't have to be without a parent when there is one here for him, now, Gail is it?' Gail nods, thoroughly relieved 'Rory here has got quite a bad break in his arm, which will need a cast and he banged his head quite badly when he fell, so we'll be keeping him in overnight to monitor him for a concussion, but he should make a quick recovery and you can bring him home tomorrow. Would you like to come over here and hold his hand while I give him his cast?' the doctor asks.  
Gail nods again and rushes over to Rory's side and places a gentle kiss on his forehead 'Hi Bud, how are you feeling?'   
'I'm ok Gail, but I fell off the jungle gym'  
'Yeah I heard about that, I also heard you crying while I was waiting outside, were you hurting pretty badly?'  
'Yeah' Rory responds getting a little tearful.  
The doctor responds with more detail than Rory 'I had to examine his arm, and it hurt him a little, but he was very brave'.   
Just then Holly rushes into the room and over to Rory's side and the doctor explains everything once again, while Holly reaches out to wrap her hand around Rory's good hand which Gail is still holding.

 

//

 

Later that evening after Rory has been fitted with a lovely green cast and is resting in his room for the night Gail explains to Holly what happened when she first arrived at the hospital.  
'Wow, what an awful woman' Holly exclaims.  
'She was just doing her job Hols, according to the law I'm no more of a relation to Rory than some stranger off the street, and we should probably be happy that they don't let just any old people in to see patients'.  
'Yeah I suppose, but still, it's probably high time we did something to change that'  
'Change what?' Gail asks.  
'Your relationship to Rory, it's never really been an issue before, but if you want to, I would love for you to adopt him'.  
'Wow' Gail lets a out a deep breath 'that's a big step'.  
'Gail we're engaged, we’re all about big steps these days! I know now more than ever, that if anything were to happen to me there's no one else I would rather take care of him than you. You're always going to be in his life no matter what, so this would just confirm that, if you want to that is?'.  
'Holly, of course this is something I want, I love Rory, more than I ever thought possible, he makes my life so much better every day. But I would like to talk to him about it first, to make sure he's ok with it?'   
‘Yeah of course, we can talk to him once he’s feeling better' Holly agrees.  
Holly snuggles in closer to Gail on the cot they are currently sharing, and the two of them drift into a light sleep, happy in the knowledge that their little boy is sleeping peacefully and that their family is taking one step closer to being complete.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Rory's school sports day and Gail and Holly have some news to share with him.

‘Rory dinner is ready can you clear away your books so we can eat?’ Holly calls to Rory as he finishes his homework at the table.

Rory and Gail work in silence setting the table and help Holly carry the plates from the kitchen, but as soon as they hit their chairs Rory looks up with a mischievous look on his face. ‘So…’

‘Yes Rory?’ Holly asks.

‘It’s sports day in two weeks’

‘Yeah I saw that, the school sent us a letter about it, what events are you going to do?’

‘Well I want to do the egg and spoon and maybe one other but also will you guys please please do the parents race? Gail you’re super fast at running’

 

‘I don’t think so Bud, I’m not really up for it this year’ Gail answers

‘Ok fine you don’t have to do the proper race, you can just do the three legged race with Mama’.

Gail and Holly share a look, ordinarily it wouldn't be a question, Gail loved competing in the parents race with Rory cheering her on, but this year was slightly different. Gail nods at Holly and Holly starts speaking.

‘Rory, sweetheart, we can’t do the three legged race together this year, I’m sorry’

‘Why? It’s just for fun’

‘Well, Gail and I have been waiting to find the right time to tell you this, and now seems like the perfect time…’ Holly trails off, her nerves beginning to show.

‘What is it?’ Rory asks, his forehead creased in confusion. Holly takes a deep breath and Gail squeezes her hand.

‘You know how Gail hasn’t been feeling so great lately?’ Holly asks and Rory nods.

‘Well it’s because I’m having a baby, so I can’t do races like those at the moment’ Gail continues for Holly.

Rory drops his fork and it clatters to the table.

‘A BABY?’ He squeals.

Holly and Gail nod in unison.

‘I’m gonna be a big brother?’ Rory’s eyebrows disappear into his hairline in his shock. ‘That’s amazing! I’ve been waiting my whole life for this!’

Gail and Holly both burst out laughing, relieved by his positive reaction.

‘You never said anything to us about that Ro’ Gail says gently.

‘Well yeah but you just got married a little while ago, and it’s been pretty great just the three of us, I was thinking about it though! And now that it’s happening it’s gonna be so great. I won’t be the only kid when you guys are doing boring grown up stuff. Wait! Is it gonna be a boy or a girl?’

‘We don’t know that yet, but we think we’re going to keep it a surprise anyway, but Gail has a scan in a few days and we can decide then. We’ll get to see a picture of the baby and everything’.

‘Well I don’t really mind, it’s gonna be great if it’s a boy or if it’s a girl!’

The rest of their dinner goes smoothly, Holly relaxing after Rory’s reaction had been so positive. Rory even manages to convince Holly to run in the parents sack race, which Gail cannot wait to see.

//

 

The day of the next scan, Rory is very excited on the drive to school ‘Ok and when you’re done you’ll ring the school so they can tell me that everything is ok?’

‘Eh no Rory, we’ll collect you from school at the normal time and we’ll tell you then, but don’t worry about it Rory, it’s going to be fine!’ Gail insists.

‘Ok fine but don’t be late to collect me!’ Rory begs as he jumps out of the car.

‘Ok Bud, have a great day, love you’

‘Love you too, bye!’

 

Gail collects Holly from work at lunch time as they have both taken half days, and they head to the doctors office together.

‘Ok Gail if you would just lift up your shirt, I’ll put the gel onto your stomach and we can get started’ Doctor Ryan begins ‘this is your second ultrasound yes?’ Holly and Gail both nod ‘Ok so we’re dating you around 15 weeks at the moment, but we can confirm that due date for you with this scan’.

‘Great’ Gail says with a slight grimace as he squeezes the cool gel onto her stomach.

Dr. Ryan begins to move the wand slowly over Gails stomach, it doesn’t take him long to find the heartbeat ‘Wow, good strong heartbeat’ he says with a small smile ‘but I do hear some distortion, so just give me a second to get a better look’

‘Distortion? What does that mean? Is something wrong?’ Holly asks, her fear evident in her voice.

‘No, nothing is wrong, I think that…’ Dr.Ryan continues moving the wand around ‘Ah yes, there it is, ladies you’re having twins’ he announces as he points out, what looks to Gail like a tiny blob on the screen.

Both Holly and Gail are stunned into silence, mouths hanging open, they had certainly not expected twins.

‘Two?’ Holly is the first one to regain her composure, though she’s not quite up to her normal level of speech.

‘Yes ladies, two babies, twice as much fun!’ Dr.Ryan responds with a large smile, it’s clear from the small smiles creeping across their faces that Holly and Gail aren’t upset, just stunned.

‘So as you might be able to make out, there are two heartbeats, and they are strong. I don’t see anything of concern here, although twin pregnancies are more high risk than single babies, so we will be bringing you in more often Gail, just to keep a close eye on things, if that’s alright with you?’

Gail shakes her head a little to recover from her shock ‘Yeah of course, anything to make sure they’re ok’.

Dr. Ryan wipes the gel off Gail’s belly and her hand immediately curls protectively over her minuscule bump.

‘From the measurements I have taken I would estimate a late October due date, just shy of Halloween, although of course twins often deliver early. You can make an appointment for your next ultrasound at the front desk and I’ll see you next month. Unless you have any questions?’

‘I don’t think so, we probably just need to digest this a bit’ Holly responds, checking with Gail who nods her agreement.

‘Ok then, well congratulations ladies, I’ll see you next month’ Dr. Ryan shows them out the door.

Once they are back in the car, Gail turns to Holly ‘twins Hol’.

Holly turns to Gail, see’s the grin on her face and beams back at her ‘Rory is going to flip’ Holly laughs ‘This is going to be so hard but so so awesome’.

Gail glares playfully at her ‘Yeah it’s going to be great fun until I’m pushing them out of me! Ugh I don’t even want to think about that pain’.

 

//

 

Holly did not overstate how excited Rory would be once they told him, he immediately proceeded to tell every single person he knew, once he had his mother’s permission, and now practically the entire school was aware of Gail’s pregnancy.

On the morning of the sports day Rory wakes them up bright and early, insisting that he help Gail make their lunch, which mostly consists of him telling the babies every thought that comes into his head, and asking Gail if she wants to take a break every five minutes. Gail finds the entire thing adorable, and is so happy to see Rory’s protective streak kicking in. She couldn’t be happier that the babies she is carrying will have an older brother who looks out for them as much as Steve looked out for her. As much it had bothered her at times, she wouldn’t have changed it for the world.

‘Ok Ma, but how about we just find out what one baby is going to be?’ Rory asked, shaking Gail from her daze. She smiles hearing Rory call her Ma, it is something that he had started using as he gets older, and it makes her heart swell. When she registers his words she lets out a small laugh ‘Ro, we’ve already made up our minds, it’s going to be a surprise!’

‘But it’s twins, can’t that just be the surprise instead?’

‘Rory no, come on it’s fun! and think about how exciting it’s going to be on the day they’re born!’

‘But that’s not for ages!’

‘I’m sorry Kid, we’ve decided, and I’m excited about the surprise and I hope you can be too, plus not knowing if they’re girls or boys means even more silly names for you to suggest for us’ Holly saunters into the kitchen and tries to break up the playful argument.

They had spent the best part of an hour the previous night debating with Rory over the names Peter and Parker for the babies, Rory insisting they were perfect, and his mothers wishing they had never started buying him comic books, if all of his name suggestions were going to be inspired by Spiderman.

 

Once their lunch is prepared the trio head off to the sports day, Rory busy psyching himself up for the grade 2 egg and spoon race. When they arrive they are overwhelmed by the amount of good wishes they receive from parents and teachers. They know Rory has been non-stop chattering about the babies for weeks but they hadn’t quite anticipated this response. It takes an extreme amount of self control and the comforting feeling of Holly’s hand on her back to stop Gail from snapping at the ridiculous number of people touching her belly but she manages to make it through with a stiff smile. When it is time for Rory’s race they are at the front of the crowd ready to cheer him on. Rory comes running over to rub Gail’s belly for good luck, which she finds rather amusing. She had hoped he would be excited about being a big brother but had no idea he would embrace it so wholeheartedly. When Rory ends up finishing fourth, a respectable place of course, he still looks happier than any of the other children around him, Holly and Gail just look at each other and smile, they’ve both admitted they’re not sure his excitement level will be so high once they babies arrive and are crying in the middle of the night, but they’ll take it while it lasts.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the last chapter. Gail is pregnant and facing typical pregnancy struggles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to my wonderful beta Bailey :) (baileychabot.tumblr.com)

Holly has become clingy. Not a bad kind of clingy, more that wherever Gail, is Holly is hovering somewhere near by. It’s been like this for about two days, ever since Gail got home from work and excitedly told Holly she thought that she felt the babies kicking that day. It was small, almost like a fluttering in her stomach, but different than anything she had felt before and instantly recognisable as how Holly had described it to her. Now Holly is anxious to be there the next time it happens, so all weekend she has been attempting to act casual about it, while also following Gail everywhere she goes around the house. Gail just lets her be. She finds it adorable and doesn’t really want Holly to stop, but Rory is not so tactful and the instant he notices her strange behaviour he starts questioning it.   
‘Mama? What’s going on?’  
Holly jumps, surprised by Rory sneaking up on her. ‘Nothing Rory, why?’  
‘Well anywhere Gail goes, you go too. Like right now, she’s in the bathroom and you’re waiting outside and that’s kind of weird’.  
Holly scoffs ‘I wasn’t waiting outside, I was just, eh, I was just looking at this picture on the wall’ she says, glancing around for an excuse.  
Gail walks out of the bathroom ‘Your mother is hovering around me like a bug because she is waiting in case the babies decide to kick Rory. She thinks that she’s being sneaky, but she is in fact being the opposite of sneaky’.  
Holly scoffs again ‘That is definitely not what I was doing’  
Gail and Rory give her matching looks of adoring exasperation.  
‘Ok maybe that is a little part of what I was doing’.

//

It isn’t until they are in bed later that night that Gail feels anything again. They are lying together in the dark tossing around baby names, moonlight creeping through a gap in the curtains. Holly is wrapped around Gail’s back, their hands intertwined over Gail’s ever growing bump. Holly places a chaste kiss on Gail’s shoulder ‘How about Belle?’.  
‘Too close to Bella, too close to Twilight’  
‘Good point. How about Isabelle?’  
‘Hmmmm...add it to the list’ Holly rolls over to make a note on her phone ‘Wait Hol! Come back quick!’ Gail grabs Holly’s hand and places it directly over her stomach.  
‘I don’t feel anything?’  
‘Wait, give them a second’ Gail drops a kiss to Holly’s temple and then Holly feels it; it’s tiny and gentle, but definite movement from their tiny babies.   
Holly starts to tear up. Gail cups her cheek ‘this is probably in the top three best moments of my life, there’s no one I’d rather do this with than you’.  
‘When did you get so sentimental?’  
‘Oh hush, I’m just trying to tell you I love you ok?’  
‘I love you more’  
‘I’m not sure that’s possible Lunchbox, since the babies are living inside of me, and they love you a lot, and I love you as well If you add that all together, I definitely win’.  
‘The babies don’t know me yet, how do you know they love me?’  
‘We talked about it, the three of us, while you were in the shower, and we agreed that we love you the most’.  
‘Oh really?’  
‘Yeah sorry Love, but there’s three of us and one of you; you’re a little outnumbered, you should probably just accept it’  
Holly snuggles closer to Gail ‘Ok fine, but tomorrow, I’m having a heart to heart with the babies about this’.

//

A few weeks later Gail is standing in front of the fridge, door open, surveying the contents. She finally see’s what she’s looking for and grabs the mayonnaise off the top shelf. She places it next to a small pile of food on the counter. Gail knows her cravings have veered a little toward the very strange but right now all she wants is a sandwich with mayonnaise, peanut butter and grapes. She knows it is the only thing that will satisfy her craving, so she goes right ahead and eats it.   
Holly comes home a short while later and finds Gail resting on the couch.  
‘Hi Love’ Holly sits next to Gail and gives her a gentle kiss. Her nose wrinkles a little as she pulls back.   
‘What?’  
‘What?’  
‘You made a face, what’s wrong?’  
‘Oh, it’s just, what did you have for lunch?’  
Gail looks slightly embarrassed ‘a sandwich’.  
‘Gail you don’t have to be ashamed if you eat weird things, you should have seen the things I craved when I was pregnant! I just wouldn’t mind if sometimes you brushed your teeth before you let me kiss you!’ Holly laughs gently.  
Gail rests her head on Holly’s shoulder ‘Ok but only for you Lunchbox’  
‘I should certainly hope so’.

//

As the pregnancy progresses, Holly notices significant changes in Gail. The most apparent are her mood swings. When she comes home from work Holly often doesn’t know which Gail to expect, the lovely affectionate Gail, or the angry and frustrated Gail who has discovered something new her belly prevents her from doing. Most nights she comes home to the sounds of Rory and Gail giggling together, balancing bowls of ice cream on their bellies or trying out some prenatal yoga positions that their doctor has recommended. But there are other times she comes home and Gail is passed out on the couch, exhausted, with Rory sitting quietly reading to himself near by.

There are mornings that Gail will cry before work because her favourite shirt won’t fit over her expanding belly, or because she has to ask Holly to tie her shoes for her. There are other times Gail is so drained from her day at work that she goes to bed as soon as she gets home. But as much as Holly worries, Gail works to reassure her that her moods are because she is tired, or frustrated by change. There is not a moment that goes by that she wishes things were any different. She had wanted to experience pregnancy, and it is wonderful. It is also just quite a bit harder than she expected. 

Holly relishes in the times she gets to pamper Gail, before she got pregnant, those times were very rare. Gail has always been so strong and always wanted to take care of everyone around her, but as her due date nears, she is becoming more and more open to allowing Holly to take care of her. Every night before bed Holly massages Gail’s back, working out the tension of the day. Then they have snuggles with Rory, he tells stories to the babies and rubs Gail’s belly. It’s these memories that Gail will cherish forever, long after the babies have arrived; she will always remember their quiet times as a family of three. Gail knows this the most peaceful their lives will be for a long time, so she sinks in and enjoys it. She can get back to being the one taking care of everyone else when she isn’t the size of a small car.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conclusion of Gail's pregnancy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again to my wonderful beta Bailey :)

Gail is thoroughly miserable, Holly can tell instantly when she walks through the door after work. Gail has been on doctor ordered bed rest for a week and is not taking it well. Rory scampers over and gives Gail as big a hug as he can manage and then pats her belly and says hello to the babies.   
‘Hey Rory, how about you go get your homework started before dinner ok? I’ll be over in a minute if you need any help’ Holly says.  
‘Hi Babe’  
‘Lunchbox’  
‘How’re you feeling?’  
‘Like there are two people living inside me and they keep getting bigger everyday’.  
Holly places her hand gently on Gail’s belly, one of the babies starts kicking and Holly notices Gail’s lips twitch into a tiny smile giving her away. She might be uncomfortable, but she is still very excited about the babies and nothing will change that.  
‘Not too much longer love’  
‘Yeah see that’s kind of the problem. I want them to leave and be outside with us, but I don’t want them to come early and be tiny or sick. But my god I don’t know how they could be tiny when I’m the size of an elephant’  
‘A very lovely and pretty elephant’ Holly whispers  
‘Hey don’t you try sweet talking me Hol, you got me into this situation. You totally wished for twins didn’t you?’  
‘I promise I didn’t but I can’t pretend I’m not as excited as you are about it, and don’t pretend you aren’t, I know you too well’  
‘I just want them to be here Hol’  
‘Soon, Gail, they’ll be here soon’.

//

Gail doesn’t have to wait long at all. Her water breaks 3 days later in the middle of the night. She wakes holly in a panic.  
‘Holly...HOLLY, It’s happening, they’re coming quick wake up!’  
‘Mmmmrgh...wha?’ Holly peers up at her blearily.  
‘The babies Hol, I think they’re on their way’  
‘Oh shit!’  
‘Yeah, oh shit. Now will you go call Steve to come watch Rory so we can go to the hospital please?’  
‘Ok, ok don’t panic, I’m on it’  
‘I’m not panicking Holly’ Gail replies and she really isn’t. She keeps her breathing normal and watches as Holly fumbles around the room, successfully phones Steve and then attempts to put both of her legs into one trouser leg before keeling over at the end of their bed. Gail pulls herself slowly out of bed and walks over to Holly who has managed to get herself upright.  
Gail places her hands on Holly’s shoulders ‘Holly, are you panicking?’  
‘No, of course not, everything is going to be fine’  
‘I hear what you’re saying Holly, but your eyes are the size of the moon and you’re very pale. Can you just try breathing normally for me?’  
Holly stands still, pulls in a deep breath and looks Gail in the eyes ‘Ok, ok, I’m fine, I just needed a minute’.   
Once they are successfully dressed and Steve has arrived they leave for the hospital. Gail rings both of their parents who promise to meet them at the hospital shortly. When they arrive at the hospital everything erupts into chaos as Gail’s labour progresses very quickly and it is only a few short hours before their babies enter the world.

//

Once the second baby is born, Gail is completely delirious. She reaches blindly for her babies who are placed into her arms and Holly is by her side kissing her temple and staring in awe at the two tiny bundles in Gail’s arms.   
‘What...what did the doctors say?’ Gail asks Holly,   
‘They’re completely fine, good weight and no complications’ one of the nurses answers Gail when Holly’s words fail her.  
‘Gail’  
‘Holly?’  
‘We have two daughters’. There are tears streaming down Holly’s face and once Gail hears those words she snaps out of her delirious state and she can’t hold back her emotions.   
‘My mother was right, Hol’  
‘What do you mean?’  
‘Once when I was being an awful teenager, she told me karma would get me one day, I’d have a daughter of my own and I’d understand what she went through, why she worried so much. And I guess karma wasn’t messing around since I got two at the same time’.

Shortly after the girls are born Gail falls asleep and Holly is left alone with her daughters. She knows their parents are in the waiting room, and will be joined by Steve and Rory but she can’t bring herself to go and get them while everything is so peaceful. Her two tiny daughters peer up at her, their blue eyes bright, so similar to Gail’s. They have dark hair, but she knows that could change easily as they grow older, but Holly secretly hopes it doesn’t because at the moment they kind of look exactly how she imagines her and Gail’s biological child would look if that were possible, and she kind of loves it.   
Holly has forgotten how tiny newborn babies are. Looking at Rory now, he is seven and getting so tall, it’s hard to believe she ever held him in her arms like this. Their peaceful bubble is disturbed when Gail starts to wriggle in her sleep, a sure sign that she is about to wake up. Holly doesn’t move, just watches as Gail’s eyes open and suddenly she has three sets of matching blue eyes staring at her.   
‘They’re so quiet’ Gail mumbles.  
‘Yeah, it’s hard to believe they’re related to you’ Holly jokes.  
‘Can I have one?’  
Holly immediately shifts the babies in her arms and deposits them on a pillow in front of Gail, they lie facing her while she supports their heads. Holly scoots her chair closer to the bed so she can still see them.  
‘They need names Hol’  
‘I know, I brought my list, but I was so sure they were boys, there aren’t very many girl names on it’  
‘I have a few ideas’.

//

Hours later, after meeting their grandparents and their big brother for the first time, it’s time for the babies to meet some of the 15 division. Steve arrives with Traci, Oliver and Andy in tow. Gail has had several naps and is feeling more human than she has in a few days and is over the moon and every bit the perfect proud mother. Traci and Oliver make a beeline for each baby and immediately confiscate them from their mothers arms.   
‘Damn Peck! You know how to make some adorable kids’  
‘Thanks Ollie’  
‘Jesus those eye’s are even more deadly on babies, it’s actually kind of terrifying’ Andy says peering Traci’s shoulder.  
‘So guys, do these tiny people have names yet? Or should we keep calling them Baby Peck-Stewart A and Baby Peck-Stewart B?’ Traci asks.  
‘Yeah I’ve been here twice and you still haven’t told me their names!’ Steve chimes in, trying to steal one of the babies from Oliver.  
‘Let him keep her Steve, he only just got here’ Gail stops Steve, who pouts but backs off.  
‘Well only just decided on their names so we haven’t really had a chance to tell anyone yet. But we have talked it over as a family’ Gail nods down at Rory who is tucked into her side and he nods back ‘and we have made our decisions’.  
Holly stands up to double check who has each baby ‘Traci is holding Amelia Isabelle Peck-Stewart’  
‘Peck, did you name your baby after my baby?’ Oliver asks.  
‘No Oliver, that was just a coincidence, plus your baby isn’t a baby and she goes by Izzy’  
‘Ok fine, well who have I got?’  
‘You’ve got Olivia Alison Peck-Stewart’ Gail smiles at Oliver. ‘That one we did name after a member of your family, or well, you to be specific’  
‘Are you serious Peck? You want to name your baby after me?’  
‘Oliver, I’m allowed to say this because I just gave birth and I’m emotional, and none of you can repeat it’ Gail looks around at everyone in the room before settling on Oliver. ‘You’re very important Oliver and I love you, plus we really liked the name anyway, so it just made sense’ Gail looks up at Oliver, both of them slightly tearful. He wraps her up in a hug, mindful of his tiny namesake in his arms. ‘You’re the best mother I know Gail, don’t ever forget that ok’ He whispers in her ear as he pulls back.  
‘Ok?’ He asks.  
‘Ok’ she gives him a watery smile ‘Can I have one of my babies back now?’.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is super short! Just a quick warning :)

When they wake up in the morning, the first thing Holly says to Gail is that she’ll probably cry at some point during the day and she would like to give Gail some warning. Gail is a bit scared, could a four year olds birthday party really be that awful? Gail learns quickly after the children arrive, that being surrounded by 20 hyper 4 year olds is overwhelming and a disaster waiting to happen. But she also learns by the end of the party that Holly had not been talking about sad, frustrated crying, she had been talking about the kind of crying that happens when you’re overwhelmed by a moment and feeling a little bit too much love for your heart to cope with. Gail can see it in Holly’s eyes when she places the cake in front of Rory for him to blow out the candles.

 

Gail steps back and her hand finds Holly’s, their fingers intertwine as Gail notices the shine in Holly’s eyes, the adoration shining through as her tiny boy grows before her eyes. Holly’s mind is racing forward, she imagines Rory at every age, 9 year old Rory shrugging away from her attempts at affection, 13 year old Rory matching Gail for height when they play football in the garden, 16 year old Rory begging for the keys to the car for his first date. That’s what makes her cry, this tiny human she created and gave birth to, who still fits perfectly into her lap for story time, but probably won’t for much longer, growing at a rate she can hardly keep up with. Everyday he seems to grow a few inches. It shocks her to look at his baby photos and remember that there was time he would fit in just one of her arms. Holly wipes her eyes as Rory brushes his hair out of his eyes and she’s overwhelmed by change, evident in his hair, the shock of orange it was when he was born has darkened with age, it’s much closer to brown now. She get’s this feeling on every one of his birthdays, the feeling of wishing she could freeze time, just for a moment to savour the beauty that is tiny Rory.

 

The biggest change from last year is now when she pictures Rory growing up, it isn’t just her by his side. Every hope she has for their future involves Gail by their side. Her tears dry up when dares to dream of Rory in a suit walking down an aisle next to her, Gail waiting for them at the alter. It’s too soon she knows, to be thinking thoughts like that, but on days like to today she can’t help it. Her relationship with Gail has turned their world upside down in the most beautiful way possible and it’s on days like this, days she previously had to organise and cope with alone, that she feels it the most. She’s found her home in the most unexpected place, with a son she had alone and a snarky but adorable woman who has stolen both of their hearts.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gail and Holly have a misunderstanding, Rory tries to fix it.

Holly walks into 15 hoping to surprise Gail after finishing work early, they have both been really busy lately and have barely seen each other in a week. Holly can’t wait until Gail is officially moves in with her and Rory in a few weeks and she can finish work every day knowing she will see Gail at home. Chloe spots Holly and directs her to the locker room, saying she saw Gail go in there with Traci a few minutes ago. Holly pushes the door open slowly and is about to interrupt when she overhears Gail speaking angrily ‘Trace, can you just leave it alone? It’s just too much too soon and I don’t know if I’m ready’. 

Holly is shocked by Gail’s tone, she’s never heard her speak to Traci like that before and she is more than a bit upset by Gail’s words. She backs slowly out of the room and lets the door close quietly behind her as she walks out of the station. A moment later Gail stalks out of the locker room and runs straight into Chloe ‘Oh Gail’

‘WHAT?’

‘Uh it’s nothing, are you alright?’

‘Just peachy, now get out of my face’ Gail practically spits at Chloe, her tone like venom.

 

Chloe wanders into the locker room and finds Traci sitting on the benches looking a little shell shocked.

‘Hey Traci, you ok?’

‘Eh, yeah, I just had a bit of a thing with Gail that’s all’

‘Yeah she seemed in a foul mood, I heard she had a pretty rough day today, but I’ve never seen her that angry before, do you know what happened?’

‘She was on scene of a gunfight and there was a kid who was hurt pretty badly, he was only seven or eight I think, and Gail was trying to get him help but the scene hadn’t been cleared and one of the suspects came barrelling out of nowhere and knocked into Gail. He sent her flying, she refused to go to hospital but I’d say she’s hurting pretty bad. Then when we got back here Oliver told her that the kid hadn’t made it. She didn’t take it well. Then when we got back here I was stupid enough to ask her about that promotion her mother keeps bringing up, thinking she might want to talk about something else, it’s something serious to consider you know? But she just kind of flipped out then. I guess it was all just too much for one day. She stormed out and then she must have run into you. I’d say she just needs some time to herself to cool off, maybe get some Rory cuddles so she can try and forget about that kid from today’ Traci explains to Chloe.

‘Poor Gail, I hope everything is ok with her and Holly too, Holly was looking for her but she must have been called away because she wasn’t with Gail when Gail left’.

//

Holly doesn’t know what to do with herself for the next few hours, she gets home and makes dinner, but once Rory is off playing by himself and she is left alone with her thoughts she starts to spiral a little. She thought Gail was happy to be moving in with them, she had been so enthusiastic about it, but maybe it was all too much too soon. Holly is completely torn, she wants to reassure Gail that whatever she wants is fine with Holly but she also wants to give her space.

 

Meanwhile, once Gail gets home to the apartment and goes to her room, which at this point is mostly filled with boxes for the move or empty drawers because she has moved so much already, she flings herself onto her bed and passes out from exhaustion. When Gail wakes the next morning, just before dawn because she went to bed so early, she is really feeling the pain from her ordeal the day before. She strips off and heads into the shower, noticing for the first time how badly bruised her sides and legs are ‘That guy couldn’t have been any bigger if he tried’ she thinks to herself. Once Gail is out of the shower and dressed she realizes she hasn’t spoken to Holly in almost 24 hours, which is unheard of for the two of them. She roots around trying to find her phone, expecting there to be numerous calls or texts from Holly, but there’s nothing, just a text from Traci saying she hopes she feels better soon.

Gail is hit with a pang of guilt, she never should have snapped at Traci like that, she’ll have to apologise to her at work. Turning her thoughts back to Holly she sends her a quick text asking if she wants to meet for lunch later, and a few follow up texts but all she gets back from Holly is a message saying she has the day off so won’t be around the station or the morgue. Gail tries to shrug it off thinking that Holly must just be busy getting Rory to kindergarten.

 

A few hours later Gail is debating whether or not to text Holly or leave her alone to enjoy her day off. The longer she stews the more she reads into Holly’s dismissal earlier on and the more her insecurities start to plague her and she manages to convince herself that Holly has no interest in seeing her and must regret asking her to move in. She doesn’t text her again that day.

 

A few days later, after complete silence between the two ladies for the longest amount of time since they first met, Steve is sitting at his desk watching Gail across the room as she scowls at everyone.

His phone starts to buzz in his pocket ‘Hi, Holly is everything ok?’ He asks as soon as the phone is answered.

‘This is Rory, who’s this?’

‘Rory it’s Steve, you called me!’

‘Can you help me please?’

‘Is everything ok Ro?’

‘Mama and Gail are fighting’ Rory replies sadly ‘I have to make it better’. 

‘Ok Rory, what happened?’

‘Gail hasn’t come over in forever and Mama is sad all the time and yesterday she was crying a little bit and I don’t know why, so we have to make them be girlfriends again so Mama stops crying’

‘Ok Rory, just tell me your plan’ Steve replies, thinking about how Rory is probably more perceptive than most of the Rookies at 15.

//

Later that evening Steve grabs Gail as she is about to leave the station and bundles her into his car, which she does not appreciate given the foul mood she’s still stuck in and the bruises still healing on her ribs.

‘Steve get off, I’m going home leave me alone’

‘I’m giving you a lift don’t worry about it’

‘I’m supposed to get a lift with Chris’

‘He knows, it’s fine’

‘OK whatever just drive’.

Gail is staring out the window lost in her thoughts for almost the entire drive, Steve decides to leave her be for as long as he can but eventually his curiosity gets the best of him ‘so…you doing ok? Just I heard you had a pretty rough time the other day, and you haven’t really been yourself lately’

‘I’m fine Steve, just sore from being thrown across a room by a man who was part giant’

‘So how’s the moving going?’ Steve asks, not wanting to mention Holly’s name but wanting to get Gail talking.

‘I don’t know’

‘How can you not know?’

‘Holly isn’t talking to me right now’

‘Did something happen? Did you fight?’ Steve enquires, playing dumb.

‘I don’t know, we just kind of stopped talking because she was being weird and I didn’t want to push it. So I did my usual thing of hoping if I ignore an issue for long enough it will resolve itself’

‘When did this happen?’

‘A couple of days ago, wait Steve what the hell are you doing? Why are we in Holly’s neighbourhood? I want to go home’.

‘Gail this is your home now, and I got a very concerned phone call from a very perceptive almost 5 year old, who knows how to make phone calls apparently, anyways, he asked for my help, so I helped him. Get out of the car Gail, and go fix whatever needs to be fixed, Rory is staying with me tonight. Stop burying your head in the sand. Go sort out your life’.

 

Steve jumps out of the car and runs into the house, emerging a few moments later with Rory thrown over his shoulder while Holly stands in the doorway looking very confused. Steve plonks Rory down in front of Gail who has just about managed to get herself out of the car. Rory launches himself into Gail’s arms and she wraps him up feeling like she might never let go. Gail doesn’t even realise that Steve had gone back into the house until she notices him come back out with Rory’s overnight bag and a small smirk on his face ‘Right ladies, I’ve ordered you some dinner and it’ll be here in 30 minutes and we will see you tomorrow’ Steve throws a wave over his shoulder as he helps Rory into the back seat of his car with the bags.

Once the car drives away, Holly comes to her senses and looks timidly at Gail ‘do you want to come in?’

‘Yeah sure’. They head back into the house and settle down at the kitchen table. They sit in awkward silence for a few moments before it becomes too much for Gail ‘So, emm, what happened?’

‘What happened? With us? You’re seriously asking me that Gail? I heard what you said to Traci! You’re not ready for this and you weren’t grown up enough to say it!’

 

‘What do you mean? What did I say to Traci? I haven’t been with you and Traci in ages’ Gail asks, thoroughly confused.

 

‘You were shouting at her in the locker room the other day and you yelled at her that this was all too much for you and it’s too soon. And I just thought that we were more serious than that and I don’t really understand what Traci could have said to make you so mad and make you say something like that but I heard you so don’t try and deny it. If you don’t think we’re going anywhere or you don’t want to be with me then just say it.’ Holly finishes breathless, her words tumbling out as she fights back tears.

Gail pauses as she tries to take in everything that Holly said to her before responding. She is so confused, the last few days have been a complete disaster.

‘Holly, I’m so confused right now, I barely even remember that conversation with Traci, I-th-That whole day is a bit of a blur, I don’t know if you heard, I obviously should have told you myself, but we got called to the scene of a shooting and there was this kid who was really badly hurt and I was trying to help him b-but then this man comes out of nowhere and barrels into me and I went flying’ Gail’s eyes gloss over as she thinks back to that moment.

‘I was pretty roughed up, but I went back to the kid while someone else went after the man, then the ambulance arrived and took the kid. I felt ok so I went back to the station, but then we got a call that the kid had died in the hospital. All I could think about was Rory, it almost broke me, and I was in so much pain and then Traci was there and she hadn’t been at the scene so I think she wanted to distract me and she kept talking about some promotion my mother wants me to apply for. I just kind of flipped and I guess you heard what I said to her but maybe you didn’t really understand what I meant.’

Gail pauses again, this time to catch Holly’s eyes so she knows that her message gets through ‘When I said it was too much too soon I was talking about the promotion, I don’t want something like that right now, there’s too many things going on, like us, that I want to be able to focus on. When the promotion comes up again I’ll think about it, but it’s not something I want right now. We’re building our future together and I want to give you and Rory one hundred percent instead of focusing on other things. I could probably have found a nicer way to say that to Traci, but it was a really awful day and I wasn’t thinking straight. Holly I’ve told you before and I will tell you every day if you need to hear it. Now that I’ve found you, I don’t ever want to let you go. I’m sorry I was such an idiot the last few days, sometimes I let my insecurities get the better of me and I thought you were panicking about asking me to move in. So I internalised everything. But then when I saw your face when got here, it all came rushing back. You love me. I know that, and I love you so we’ll make it work. And I’ll do my best to minimise the impact of me being an idiot’.

‘Oh’ Holly looks slightly overwhelmed by Gail’s speech, but her love for the woman sitting in front of her is shining in her eyes as she takes Gail’s hand.

‘Yeah, oh, now I got a small Rory cuddle when I got here but I have missed you so much the last few days and I thought you hated me so can we please go to bed and just snuggle?’

Holly lets out a small huff of a laugh as she rises from her chair and leads Gail to their room.


End file.
